A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that Jackie Robinson once lived in a house in my neighborhood. It was shortly after he was signed to the then, Brooklyn Dodgers, as the first African American professional (major league) baseball player. As I was navigating my way there and around his former home, I passed by the high school that my parents attended: Samuel J. Tilden.  But who exactly was the man behind the school’s name?  I have previously use my Find Out Friday posts to discover who the Tom was behind the river ( https://bit.ly/2PSbQvd ) as well as investigating who Hugh L. Carey was ( https://bit.ly/2PmMy7l ), the man for whom the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel’s name was changed for.  So now it was Tilden’s turn.  Samuel J. Tilden (1814 - 1886) was a native New Yorker, attorney, and State Assemblyman. He was also the twenty-fifth Governor of New York, the first to live in the current Executive Mansion in Albany. He was a prominent leader in ...

There are only a handful of people whose opinions I take seriously when it comes to food. I am not one of those folks who believes in the hype of a newly opened up restaurant or one that has a long standing history just because it is popular. Very often I am in the minority and find myself struggling to understand what “everyone” loved about that place.  My best examples include “Carbone” ( https://bit.ly/2Pq0FZ7 ), hardly the best Italian food in the city, as well as “Lucali’s” pizza in Brooklyn ( https://bit.ly/2AYLlxC ). The latter has played host to JayZ and Beyonce, yet it was one of the worst pies I have ever had. Sooooo not #pizzaFriday worthy. Now have a new place to add to that ever growing list: “Black Seed Bagels”.  Black Seed Bagels are very popular in NYC especially on social media. Once you have seen pictures that have you drooling it is very tempting to fall for what is essentially propaganda. This is my plea for you not to. ...

Ok, I am not crazy. I know the word “driving” is not spelled with the letter “L”. However, you cannot start the engine of any car without noticing it.  For those who are not sure where I am going with this, I want to know what the “L” stands for on the gearshift of automobiles.  The other day while in the car, my purse fell off the armrest and actually shifted the gear from “D” to “N”. Yes, my purse is that heavy. When I looked straight ahead past my steering wheel I realized that although I took driver’s ed and passed my both my permit and driving tests on the first tries, I did not know what that “L” all the way to the left stood for. Sure for a moment I thought maybe it just stood for left. But I suspected I that was not the case.  Turns out it actually stands for “Low”, like when you need to drive in low gear.  That didn’t help me.  When are you supposed to drive in low gear?  Since I am now thirty-seven years ol...

My blog turned eight years old on March 2nd of this year.   That day I did all of the things I really love. I spend a good portion of the day in the kitchen cooking recipes from Chrissy Teigen’s lastest cookbook. I did a bit of writing, and ended my day having a glass of wine with friends. It was picture perfect.  But as much fun as it was, that was no reason I couldn’t take my celebration on the road. So I did. My mother and I met up with a couple of our cousins in a place I have done a lot of writing about; Arthur Avenue. Arthur Avenue is a large thoroughfare in the Bronx where there seems to be nothing but classic Italian restaurants, shops, and bakeries.  I discovered the interesting history behind this legendary street when I wrote about it one Find Out Friday;  “Who Puts the Arthur in Arthur Avenue?  That made me all the more eager for my visit over the summer. During that visit I had lunch at Zero Otto Nove and then desser...

This was a place I intended to share on my upcoming 2019/ 2020 to do list, but I got so hungry looking at their Instagram photos I couldn’t wait. I decided to pay a visit to “Doughology” before I had a chance to post my list. As per usual, my instincts were on point.  Doughology doesn’t only make and sell delicious donuts. It is also is proof that we should all follow our bliss. Doughology opened in 2016 in Lynbrook, New York, by the husband and wife team of Jackie and Chris Stiansen. Two years before this Jackie was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was with that life changing diagnosis that she decided to quit her job as a stock broker and pursue a much different, less stressful career path.  But Jackie wasn’t the only one who changed careers. Her husband Chris is now a retired police officer. The fact that a former cop now operates a donut shop is not lost on anyone who has previously written a review about Doughology. I think it was just fate. Tha...